Ok, well if you have PhotoShop (which version, btw?), then here's a little homework for you...

Read around a little on the following:

- Levels
- Contrast/Brightness
- Unsharp mask (tip: after resizing (not before), try Amount 40, Radius 1, Threshold 0, or less if it starts to look scratchy - you'll soon discover what I mean.)

... and then experiment a bit, and maybe post revised versions of a couple of these pictures.

You'll be amazed at the difference you can achieve.

For instance, I took the liberty of brightening up your first swan and applying a little sharpening:

[IMG]http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Other%20Peoples%20Pics/SarahJC-21814_1401292129_zpsdda21731.jpg[/IMG]

Literally two minutes work, and if you started with your original, the result would probably be better.

For a complete beginner, these are really very good indeed.

You've isolated the subjects nicely, and there are no issues with sharpness except possibly with the first swan.

You've got a speck of dust on your sensor, very obvious in the top right corner of the pigeon shot, and there are a couple of slight exposure issues in the first two (the swan could be brighter, and the white pigeon or dove (?) is a bit overexposed).

But it's an excellent start.

What are you processing the images with?

So is it ok?

I noticed this, but there's nothing improper on show. Is this really thought of as a no-no in the pro-portraiture world?

Of course it's the best camera in the world - it's the one you have !

Welcome

Well firstly of course, if the clients are happy, it doesn't matter a damn what any of us think

However, since you ask, I like all the colour ones, and dislike all the B&W ones.

Amazingly, for the same reason in each case - the B&W ones all seem a bit vacuous/gormless to me, whereas the colour ones all have alert expressions, and I can really engage with them all.

Kissy-kissy is very difficult to get natural, and I don't think you've achieved it with the one of the kid in the middle (which also looks quite goofy to me).

However, as I say, I think the colour ones are good. Obviously, but still nicely posed, and engaging expressions with no huge imbalances (except the baby in the big group, but it's small and not too distracting).

I'd desaturate the guy's cheeks in #7, though, he looks a bit like he's been overdoing the beers in recent years.

Have a look at the histograms... the patch is suspiciously close to the overexposed bit on his back in the first one, and the second one seems less overexposed.

Or am I imagining that?

Not that I can imagine how a patch of overexposure would affect the nearby pixels...

Toddler crawling around in a not-very well-lit room, and you want to keep the exposure short?

Anything really - it's not necessarily about actual darkness, it's keeping the shutter speed up for any number of reasons.

That's weird then, what could it be?? The sky's a pretty uniform blue.

All good. What did you take them with? I see you've cunningly removed the EXIF, what are you hiding?

Also, why is there a darker patch above the guy's back in the one of the BMX bike?